


Wherever You Land

by pinkevilbob



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:22:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29260416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: What Bren wanted was to study, but destiny dropped something else entirely in his lap.
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 14
Kudos: 47





	Wherever You Land

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 100th Widojest fic that I've posted here!!!! Hot dang!!! Thanks for reading! I probably would've stopped long ago without all of you reading.

Bren groaned, setting down his book and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He'd been studying for hours and the words were starting to look like gibberish. Logically, he knew that meant that it was time for him to take a break, but he didn't have time for that. The library would be closing soon and he needed to take full advantage of it before trying to figure out where he'd sleep that night. Veth had said that there was always room on her couch for him, but Bren hated having to take advantage of her like that.

He was debating moving from his lounge to table to see if that was enough to reset him when a tiefling fell into his lap. She was blue and plump with a dazzling smile. "Hi." Her voice was accented placing her from the Menagerie Coast. "I'm Jester."

"Er, hello," Bren said, awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"It is the library. Anyone is allowed to be in the library and I was trying to draw that." Jester pointed up at a carving in the relief of the wall. "But I needed a better look at the whole thing so I was backing up and yeah."

Bren nodded. "Ja and you fell on me."

Jester nodded without the proper amount of shame. "Yep! Thanks for breaking my fall even though you are super boney."

He was about to make a sharp retort about his lack of cushioning when a librarian he wasn't familiar with approached them. "You two look awfully cozy," she said. "So this is the famous Caleb?"

A thick silence hung over them as Jester stared at Bren. He could see a hundred thoughts running through her head, but he couldn't guess what a single one of them was. "Yep! This is my boyfriend, Caleb!" She squirmed in his lap. "And this is Beau. You remember me telling you all about my roommate, Beau, right Caleb?"

"Ja," Bren said, playing along with the charade. It was easier than to ask questions, and he had to admit that Jester was cute. "And every bit as charming as you said she would be."

"F#$% off," Beau said, casually flipping him off. "So are you bringing him to the party on Saturday?"

Bren shifted pulling Jester more into his lap. In for a penny, in for a pound. He rested a hand on her knee hoping that it would seem like a familiar action to Beau but not make Jester too uncomfortable. "What party?"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you about it. There's a party at the Xhorhaus on Saturday and you are totally invited," Jester said. She placed a hand on his, and Bren's stomach fluttered.

"I am busy. I have a lot of studying to do," Bren said.

Jester leaned her head on his shoulder. "He's super smart."

Beau rolled her eyes. "Come on. You keep telling us about how amazing your new boyfriend is, but none of us have met him yet. This will be a good time to fix that."

"Yeah, it would," Jester said nervously looking over at Bren.

Bren bit back a sigh."I wouldn't have to stay the full party, would I?"

"Nope! Just a quick tour and hi and you can go back to your studies," Jester said.

"I'll be there then," Bren said.

Jester grinned. "You're going to have so much fun." She nuzzled Bren's cheek with her nose and he could feel his face turn beet red.

Beau rolled her eyes again. "You two are so gross. I'll let Cad know to expect you. And get off of each other. This is a library." She turned away and went off.

"Oh right." Jester scrambled off of Bren. "Sorry about that." Her cheeks might've been flushed, but it was hard to tell with how blue she was.

"So, do you want to tell me why I am your boyfriend?" Bren asked. He stretched trying to get the feeling back into his legs.

Jester crouched down to his level. "Right, so, I have this housemate who is super handsome and charming and great, and I had this huge major crush on him. But he wasn't interested, so I wasn't interested, but then he was interested so I had to be interested too. And we kissed which was fun, but it felt weird being with him, you know? And we tried to date but it didn't work so we broke up. But now everything's super awkward, so I said I had a new boyfriend to make everything less awkward. But now everyone wants to meet my new boyfriend, Caleb."

Bren nodded along. "And so now I'm Caleb. And you need me to be Caleb at this party?"

"Would you? It really will be a lot of fun and you can meet all my housemates and let them know how happy I am and that everything is okay," Jester said.

 _Because nothing says okay like making up a boyfriend_ , Bren thought, but he didn't dare say it out loud. "This is the second most ridiculous favor I've ever done, but I'll do it. And how long am I to keep up this act?" Bren asked.

"Just for the party," Jester said. "After that, I'll say we're still dating for a couple of weeks, and then we'll break up on good terms. But for some reason that doesn't make me sound pathetic. Oh, like your long lost fiancee who everyone thought was dead has been found in the arctic and you had to return to her and of course I had to break up with you since she is your true love."

Bren stared at her for a moment. "And your friends will believe that?"

Jester stared back at him. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Never mind. This is just for one party, ja? And after that, we'll never see each other again." Life was already complicated enough for Bren; he didn't need to add a fake girlfriend to it.

"Caleb, don't you want to be friends though?" Jester asked.

He shrugged. "As my name isn't Caleb, it would be simpler for you if we weren't. You don't want your housemates finding out that all of this was a lie."

Jester pouted, but she nodded anyways. "Yeah, you're right. But if we're not friends, then this isn't a favor. I'll have to pay you. Anything you want."

"Anything?" One thing instantly came to Bren's mind. "A night in a hotel."

She stared and this time Bren could tell that she was blushing. "A night in a hotel? Together? Oh, umm, that's kinda fast."

"What, no. I meant a room for a night for me. I don't need to stay anywhere expensive or extravagant. Just a place to sleep for one night," Bren said.

"How come? Roommate trouble?" Jester asked.

Bren hung his head down. The last thing he wanted to do was explain to a beautiful young woman that he was homeless. "Ja, something like that."

Jester nodded sagely. "A night in a hotel. I know just the place." She stuck out her hand. "It's a deal, .... Wait, I don't know your name."

"Just call me Caleb," Bren said. "It will make it less likely for slip ups. All I am to you is your wonderful boyfriend Caleb."

"Right." A flicker of uncertainty ran across her face, but it was gone as soon as it came. "Right! My wonderful boyfriend Caleb." Jester smiled at him and his heart flip flopped. At least he didn't have to fake being head over heels for her.

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of a widojest meet-cute that started with Jester falling into Caleb's lap popped into my head and I had to write it. And well it became a fake-dating au because I had to write one of those eventually I guess.


End file.
